Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics What do you think of S&B's?

Thanks JG
In no way did I mean to be critical of your choice. I was just interested in the reasons why since I was considering both scopes. I really wish Leupold would have offered the VX6 in a 1" tube. That would have made it about perfect IMHO.

Excellent perspective. I've got scopes ranging from Leupold, Zeiss, Vortex, Bushnell Elites. In this case I was looking for something I would be wowed by. I've owned several swarovski's and I found the Leupolds to be just as versatile for my hunting needs.

Did the view alone give you a "WOW" factor when compared to your other scopes? I've never looked through a S&B. Was it simply brighter, clearer, more contrast? Interested even if difficult to put into words. I'm trying to develop an itch that needs scratched.LOL

It wowed me, ten times over. Planning a hunting trip this coming weekend, will put it to the test then. The contrast, precision adjustments and clarity are above any scope I have ever looked through. To put it mildly, I plan to own several more in the upcoming years. PC rather own three of these scopes vs. 10 Leupolds.

I loaded 50 rounds of 6.5 creedmoor. Heading to the range in the morning, will post more photos after.

I can't get over the complaints about the size and shape of the reticle. The first focal plane scopes allow you to make the reticle as large or as small as you want. I keep mine on and kill almost all of my game set on 5.75 or just under 6 power. They really do have this figured out.

As far as JG's comments I must defend him somewhat. Even though I think he is wrong about the "Klassic" he is a man that rarely reports something he heard or read on the internet. He's a man that has a chance to look at and thru a lot of scopes during the course of a year. Although looking thru a scope for a few minutes under varying conditions isn't the end all test he personally likes the VX6's. I have no problem w/that...I just prefer the S&B Klassic. It's by far the most versatile and best built scope on the planet in my opinion. powdr

Tell us you never put a scope on something you started to shoot and changed your mind.

How many of us carry a spotting scope when trapesing though the woods. My binos showed me the best deer I have ever seen on the hoof last year. I could tell in the 7X binos the antlers were wider than the ears, which was one of my criteria, but I could not tell if it had four points on each side. I barely had time to turn up the 5-25X scope. When I could tell it had four on each side I fired. The front legs were already behind some brush. After I fired I checked the setting on the scope: 12X.

A few weeks later I was in another state. This time I had to turn it up to 25X to verify. Of course this was after I saw it with the binos. And yes I have a spotting scope that is better than the 5-25X rifle scope. It is for a different purpose than woods walking.

One of my all time favorites. S&B 3-12x50 Zenith with plex.



3X


6X


12X


Just a fantastic hunting scope.

The 2 SB scopes I had (3-12Zenith, 4-16 PH) demonstrated unacceptable glare if aimed remotely close to bright sunlight.
Other than that, and mine may have been an exception, they are top notch in the rest of their feature set.

Name me a scope that doesn't have glare when looking into the sunlight. powdr

Maybe because they've only looked through the Summit and NOT the Klassic? The Summit line is a SFP reticle, while the other S&B scopes are FFP reticles. My Klassic 3-12x42mm has the A8 (plex) reticle, and even on the lowest magnification it's quite good (not thin).

My Zenith's on the other hand at their lowest magnifications (1.1 and 1.5x) are too thin. Reticle becomes useable IMHO at 3 or 4x.

That is not what I said.
My premier lite Tacs and the Diavari I currently use handle it better than those two S&Bs did. I will go on to say that the Zenith was better than the PH in handling glare.
This is my experience.

The one I currently have is a 1.5-6x42 Police Sniper model. It has a modified #4 reticle with added windage hashes. It has very low turrets that are unusual. 1 click gives me 300 yards on the .270 it's on, three clicks gives me 400 yards plus 3 inches using the ammo I hunt with. That's from an inch and a half high at 100. The reticle is in the FFP

It's not a light weight scope. But, it makes no compromises mechanically or optically.

My favorite deer stand offers shots from 25 feet to 600 yards and under what at certain times are the hardest light conditions I have ever had to handle.

I keep the scope set at 1.5x and I shoot it like a using a shotgun If I decide to take a close deer. For that, the FFP reticle at it's least useful setting is near perfect. At range it just gets better. I have decent scopes in both FFP and 2FP. For low light work FFP is way better. It's not even close. If I could afford to put this scope on all my deer hunting rifles, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I think that For deer hunting in Minnesota this is as close to perfect as I have seen in almost sixty years. The weight is a non-issue to me, and if it were I'd put two in the magazine instead of four. I would really appreciate if they could sell them for $300-#400 though.

I did manage to grab up a Meopta Artemis 1.5-6x42 before they disappeared. If ever you see one of them show up used, grab it! They are optically so close to the Zeiss Victory and S&B that you cannot make a distinction. They go for a lot less money though. The last new ones I saw were right at $400.

Miles do you have a picture of your reticle? powdr

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhBaVvNlo2HiHdeEv8eoFRYFiUtGL7BQsiBmuPdZBB2Nm6qZVdtQ

Ths link will take you to the closest S&B has to it in current production. What I have is a heavier outside, no dot and no trash below the horizontal. Basically a heavy #4 with the windage hashes above the horizontal.

If you need a real picture of what I have send me an email addy and I will go dig it out of the safe and make a picture.

"What do you think of S&B's?"

Mine, optical performance outstanding for a plus. Bulky/heavy, cannot run Alumina flip covers for a negative.

I have one I recently bought used, and like it quite a bit. It is a 6x42 with a #2 reticle. I put it on a Ruger 77 in 7x57, and am looking forward to hunting with it this fall.

When did stop labeling them "made in West Germany" as this one is?

I'd have to guess shortly after West Germany ceased to exist, so after October 1990.

John

Warranty




With the present Schmidt & Bender scope you are purchasing a high-quality product for which we give you a worldwide warranty under the following conditions:

Within 30 years from the date of the purchase we undertake to entertain a permanent stock of the required spare parts and make sure that our service engineers have all the necessary skills and capabilities to perform the required repair work.

Within 2 years from the date of the purchase we grant a warranty with respect to the applicable statutory warranty claims of the buyer.

As far as the scopes of the Zenith, Klassik and Hungaria series are concerned, the warranty with respect to the statutory warranty claims shall be valid within 10 years from the date of the purchase, with the restriction that any jobs and repairs performed as a result of wear and tear will not be covered by this warranty from the beginning of the 3rd year from the date of the purchase.

The warranty will not be valid for damages caused by improper use.

The warranty shall become void after any intervention and repair performed by any repair service we did not authorize to perform the repair.


Based on this I will stick with Zeiss and Leupold.

While you make a very good point as regards riflescopes vs binoculars I certainly wouldn't call it a waste on alpha glass.

One thing you get with a scope like S&B is robustness. Now that mightn't make a hoot of difference if you're going to be shooting from a tree stand or other static position. However, if you want a scope to perform day in day out for years in all kinds of conditions from mountains to plains to forest then you get what you pay for. I have slipped and banged my old Zeiss Diavari into trees, rocks, snow, dirt and it's never missed a beat. The S&B is probably even more rugged than the Zeiss.

Besides, nothing is a waste of money if you can afford it.

Agree completely about buying quality but Zeiss is quality as well and based on the warranty , I will pick it every time over S&B. This is from a guy who really wanted a used S&B but no warranty on a $1200 scope just ain't happening for me. I save too long and sweat too much for that money when there are options willing to back it up for life.